updated 02:50 pm EDT, Mon June 20, 2011

RIM finally admits problems with mail client

RIM has reportedly faced serious compatibility problems that prevented the company from offering a native e-mail client for the BlackBerry PlayBook as the tablet arrived on the market. The company was said to be utilizing an e-mail system built with an architecture configured for one device per user, a smartphone-oriented design that became problematic when transitioning to multiple devices tied to a single account.

"The Blackberry email system is the BES -- which is the source/focus of all the famous BB security," unnamed sources told Business Insider. "The BES email server has the concept of one user = one device (or they call it PIN)."

Although the company has promised native e-mail support, rebuilding the system is said to require "significant work." The time-frame for adding an e-mail client was pushed back to late summer, several months after the tablet first launched.

Critics have blasted the device for arriving on the market with software that appears to be unfinished. Aside from the missing e-mail client, users were also forced to wait for video chat and native apps for Facebook and messaging.